14 JULY 2-8, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | Gregg Deal is no stranger to slurs. Growing up in Park City, the 51-year- old Indigenous artist and activist — a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe — had terms like “wagon burner,” and worse, hurled his way. But he “100% knew how to draw,” studying visual art at Virginia’s George Ma- son University. Deal initial- ly focused on painting but expanded into sculpture, fi lmmaking, spoken word and performance art, tak- ing on themes of racism, colonialism, capitalism and more. Punk music was the soundtrack to it all. An autobi- ographical 2020 piece called “The Punk Pan-Indian Roman- tic Comedy” narrated Deal’s relationship with music, and the founding of Dead Pioneers soon followed. Their fi rst single, “Bad Indian” was followed in 2023 by a raw and raucous self-titled debut album, with Po$t-American released in 2025. Last spring, Dead Pio- neers opened for Pearl Jam at shows in Florida and Atlanta, playing to audiences of over 30,000. Their latest album, Wagon Burner, dropped Friday, and the band will return to the Bluebird Theater for an album release party on July 3 — the day before America’s 250th — before heading to Europe. Deal has big thoughts about the semiquincentennial. Merciless Indian Savages & Friends “When they signed the Decla- ration of Independence, they referred to Indigenous people as merciless Indian savages. And it’s never been addressed, never been corrected or anything like that. It really is an embodiment of the disdain that early settlers had for na- tive people. So we are calling the show ‘Merciless Indian Savages & Friends,’ celebrat- ing the day before the 250th anniversary of white indepen- dence. With all of the political discourse that’s happening with everything that is sort of around it, with the erasure of marginalized communities like Indigenous people, there’s a lot to say, and a lot that will be said. Our music fi ts in nicely, I think.” Deal and the band are psyched to be back at the ‘bird. “Our fi rst headliner was at the Bluebird last year. It was Easter Sunday, and also 4/20: So Colorado! It was also a record release show. We love playing here.” The band’s current lineup has front- man Deal backed by guitarists Josh Rivera and Abe Brennan, drummer Shane Zweygardt and bassist Lee Tesche. Opening acts for the Dead Pioneers are local favorites Cleaner, Team Nonexistent and I Am The Owl. “Cleaner comes highly recommended and there’s a couple of folks in there that are some big staples in the Den- ver scene,” says Deal “We’ve been able to play with Team Nonexistent a few times and just absolutely love what they’re doing as a band that really is not just a punk band, but also a band that represents some queer folks in just such a fantastic way. And I Am The Owl is actually our guitarist, Josh, it’s his band. I believe that they’re working on a record right now, and they’re a fantastic live band.” The band will be signing records at Wax Trax (638 East 13th Av- enue) from 6-7 p.m. on Friday before the Bluebird Show. All vinyl formats come with a fold out double-sided poster insert, featuring a Shepard Fairey x Dead Pioneers collab poster. Tickets to the July 3 16+ Dead Pioneers album release party and concert are $35.00 (in- cluding all taxes and fees) and available at bluebirdtheater. net. Doors open at 7 p.m. with show starting at 8. The Blue- bird Theater is located at 3317 East Colfax Avenue. LIVE MUSIC ADVERTORIAL DEAD PIONEERS RETURN TO BURN AT THE BLUEBIRD
